Switzerland's Marco Odermatt reacts after his victorious run in the alpine men's super-G at Copper Mountain, Colorado
Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) - Unstoppable Marco Odermatt won the first World Cup super-G of the season on Thursday, edging Vincent Kriechmayr by eight-hundredths of a second to snatch the victory at Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Odermatt, the four-time defending World Cup overall champion, clocked 1min 07.70sec to add a victory in the first speed event of the season to his season-opening giant slalom win in Soelden last month.
The 28-year-old Swiss underscored his status as the man to beat in a 2025-26 campaign geared toward the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.
Austria’s Kriechmayr, starting seventh, had set a target with a storming run in 1:07.78.
But Odermatt – who collected the super-G, giant slalom and downhill titles last season – wouldn’t be denied, surging into first with a near flawless run.
Austrian Raphael Haaser was third, 0.13sec behind Odermatt, with compatriot Stefan Babinsky fourth.
“First speed race of the season – great day for me,” Odermatt said. “I had a great run from top to the bottom. I had a good plan in my mind and I could really ski this so, yeah, happy with my performance.”
Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde gets a hug from US ski star fiancee Mikaela Shiffrin after his World Cup super-G run at Copper Mountain
Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde made an emotional return from a near two-year injury absence with a run that put him 1.25sec behind Odermatt – tied for 24th.
The 2020 overall World Cup winner and 2023 world championships silver medallist in super-G and downhill, hadn’t raced since a serious fall at Wengen in January 2024.
Kilde underwent multiple surgeries on leg and shoulder injuries then after resuming training had to undergo a further procedure due to an infection that developed into sepsis.
The 33-year-old had announced this week he was ready to race after two years that felt “like a lifetime”.
“It was amazing being out and actually having a good feeling on my skis and knowing that I can push even more,” Kilde said. “It’s just one or two turns I could have done a little better but in my plan I did really well.”
Kilde added that it was “a dream come true” to have fiancee Mikaela Shiffrin in the finish area.
US ski star Shiffrin was thrilled to see Kilde competing again.
“To see him in the start gate was the greatest victory for all of us,” she said. “It’s just really hard to explain how much that takes.”
The alpine World Cup circuit is back at Copper Mountain this year for the first time since 2001. Men will race a giant slalom on Friday before women’s giant slalom and slalom races at the weekend.